Replacing Missing Teeth Restores Confidence

Dental Implants are the Solution to Missing Teeth

A simple Chinese food lunch turned into a disaster for Christopher Rasmussen when he bit into a spare rib and cracked one of his front teeth. The catastrophe occurred while he was still living and working in New York.

“This happened a short time before I moved to Florida,” relates Christopher. “My tooth cracked in half. I had to go to a hospital in The Bronx, where they removed the other half of the tooth.”

Christopher lived with an empty space in his mouth until he relocated south. In Florida, he found a comfortable place to live, a job he liked and a lifestyle he enjoyed.

“I was born in New Rochelle, New York, which is a suburb outside New York,” he states. “I moved to Florida from Westchester about a year ago. I’ve been an auto technician for more than ten years, and I’ve been with a local tire and auto repair shop for the last six months.”

He also found a dentist who offered him a lasting solution for his missing tooth.

After Christopher settled in Melbourne, his grandmother introduced him to Clark F. Brown, Jr., DDS, of Implant Dentistry of Florida, of whom she had been a patient for 20 years. Dr. Brown is a comprehensively trained and experienced dentist who has practiced cosmetic, general and implant dentistry in Melbourne for more than 30 years. During the initial visit, Dr. Brown and his staff impressed Christopher.

“It was a very friendly atmosphere when I walked in,” he says. “Everyone greeted me enthusiastically. Dr. Brown came in with a big smile on his face and was very nice. I’m not a fan of dentists, but he put me at ease immediately. He spoke to me not in medical terms, but in layman’s terms, so I could understand what was going on. Everybody I dealt with was very nice.”

Dr. Brown explained that Christopher’s tooth was “dead,” and that’s why it so easily cracked. The dentist also noted that a second tooth right next to the one that had cracked was also dead and needed to be extracted and replaced. The teeth were on the top of his mouth toward the front in a very visible position.

“They’re the ones right next to my front teeth,” confirms Christopher. “Every time I smiled, I had a huge gap in my mouth. I was so embarrassed for a couple of months before I had gone to Dr. Brown.”

After his evaluation, Dr. Brown recommended dental implants to replace Christopher’s two missing teeth. The dentist also explained that Christopher would need bone grafting to build up sufficient bone mass to securely place the implants.

“First of all, he explained in depth why I couldn’t do a bridge,” remembers Christopher. “Secondly, he explained the seriousness of not having the bone to be able to place the implants. If he were to just do the procedure, the implants would fall out.

“He told me implants were the best solution and why. He’s a dentist, so I needed to accept his recommendation. When people bring their cars to me, I make recommendations to people as a mechanic. I tell them, This is what you should do so eventually a bigger problem won’t occur.” [….]